Climate FieldView Launches in South Africa

Apr 01, 2021

The Climate Corporation has announced the commercial launch of its digital farming platform, Climate FieldView, in South Africa. Adopted by farmers in more than 20 countries and on more than 60 million subscribed hectares globally (150 million acres), this new addition marks a major milestone for the company as its first expansion onto the African continent.

As the world becomes hotter and hungrier, farmers are pursuing new solutions to help produce the food, feed and fuel that power the planet. With the FieldView platform, The Climate Corporation and Bayer are pioneering the digital agriculture industry to help farmers actively manage risk and increase productivity while simplifying their operations. Through its suite of easy-to-use data collection and analysis tools, FieldView offers farmers a single platform to unite data from each piece of their precision equipment – including tractors, planters, sprayers and combines – and access those insights from anywhere with a smartphone, tablet device or computer.

“Digital technologies are showing major promise in the agriculture industry and have the power to unlock many valuable insights on the farm, but the use of technology can sometimes be intimidating,” says John Raines, CCO at The Climate Corporation. “With FieldView, we work to ensure our product is both easy to access and easy to use, so farmers can take control of their own data and utilize these insights to make more informed decisions.”

South African farmers now have access to industry-leading data science capabilities and digital tools, and can digitize their operations. To get started, customers can connect field data through the Climate FieldView Drive device, a piece of hardware that farmers can insert into a diagnostic port in the cab of their precision equipment. It uses bluetooth technology to stream agronomic data from the equipment before being synced with their FieldView account. Farmers can also upload data generated by their equipment directly into their FieldView account through the Data Inbox tool, which does not require the use of the FieldView Drive.

All FieldView users have full control of their farm data. They choose if, how and when to share their agronomic information. If they feel it benefits their operations, farmers can choose to share their insights with a trusted agronomic partner to help make data-driven business decisions.

As the digital agriculture landscape continues to evolve, innovative technologies such as Climate FieldView are reaching widespread adoption in regions around the world. In 2020, South African farmers tested FieldView on more than 500,000 hectares (1.2 million acres) and were able to experience the value the platform has to offer, prior to its commercial launch.

In addition to supporting row crop farmers through digital tools like FieldView, Bayer has committed to empowering 100 million small-scale farmers by 2030 through relevant technologies and initiatives, such as the Water Efficient Maize for Africa (WEMA) TELA Maize Project, Farm to Market Alliance, and the Better Life Farming Alliance.

Source : Seed World

Video: From Conventional to Regenerative: Will Groeneveld’s Journey Back to the Land

"You realize you've got a pretty finite number of years to do this. If you ever want to try something new, you better do it."

That mindset helped Will Groeneveld take a bold turn on his Alberta grain farm. A lifelong farmer, Will had never heard of regenerative agriculture until 2018, when he attended a seminar by Kevin Elmy that shifted his worldview. What began as curiosity quickly turned into a deep exploration of how biology—not just chemistry—shapes the health of our soils, crops and ecosystems.

In this video, Will candidly reflects on his family’s farming history, how the operation evolved from a traditional mixed farm to grain-only, and how the desire to improve the land pushed him to invite livestock back into the rotation—without owning a single cow.

Today, through creative partnerships and a commitment to the five principles of regenerative agriculture, Will is reintroducing diversity, building soil health and extending living roots in the ground for as much of the year as possible. Whether it’s through intercropping, zero tillage (which he’s practiced since the 1980s) or managing forage for visiting cattle, Will’s approach is a testament to continuous learning and a willingness to challenge old norms.

Will is a participant in the Regenerative Agriculture Lab (RAL), a social innovation process bringing together producers, researchers, retailers and others to co-create a resilient regenerative agriculture system in Alberta. His story highlights both the potential and humility required to farm with nature, not against it.